“He is best in reward”: He grants the finest recompense to those who obey Him, even if another were able to reward. “And best in outcome”: that is, the outcome of obeying Him is better than the outcome of obeying anyone else. Thus, He is best in recompense, and obedience to Him has the best outcome. Hamzah and ‘Asim recited ‘uqban with the qaf unvowelled, while the others recited it with dammah.

“And set forth for them the parable of the life of this world: it is like rain that We send down from the sky, causing the vegetation of the earth to grow luxuriantly, then it becomes dry stubble, scattered by the winds. And Allah is ever fully able over all things.” (45)